My search is over...Finally UPDATE

[Texas Ranch Man]

Thanks to everyone who added their thoughts to the original post. I did get some very useful information. Special Thanks to BlackBaldyMan, his suggestion to have the Fuel Transfer Pump checked out was right on time. It was bad, and if you dont fix it your Main Fuel Pump will fail. So here is a little info for anyone else with a 01 Cummins Turbo Diesel.

#1. All of the Trucks that year had a defective Fuel Transfer Pump. They dont even make that pump anymore, what you buy from Dodge is a Transfer Pump Conversion Kit. This goes inside your Fuel Tank, not on the Motor like the old version. It was around $800.00 Installed

#2. It is suggested you replace your Steering Stabilizer every year to prevent additional Front End wear. this is about $60.00 Installed.

Thanks again, TRM

 

[BlackBaldyMan]

Glad you got er' taken care of and back on the road 8)

 

[lukem86]

i wish you luck with the in-tank...from all accounts I have heard the in-tank pump is junk as well... i have heard it is actually worse.... you probably would have been better off spending 150 bucks for something like a Holley blue pump...

the lift pump on most of the 2nd gen dodge is the same POS...lift pump fails and takes out the injection pump shortly after.... I have an '02... had a new IP put in under warranty last spring...

the only way to really know if that lift pump is working is to install a fuel pressure gauge in the cab and watch it when you put your foot into it... couple hundred bucks in a better fuel pump, and some for a gauge beats $1600-2000 for a new IP.

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

Lukes sorta got it right, although the fuel transfer pump on those models isn't at all a bad pump, just the design of the system itself thats poor. The in-tank pumps aren't much better than the old rigs, once again due to Dodge simply not comprehending fluid dynamics.

For those who are running 2nd Gen 24 valve trucks at stock (or near stock) power, the fix for the lift pump problem is easy. Get a set of higher flowing banjo bolts (Genos sells these). This will help with the stock lift pump being driven into bypass before the fuel system is at pressure. If you're running up to around 375 - 400 BHP, you'll need to ditch the fuel lines all together and buy a set of adapters from Earls. Change the line size to -8AN from the transfer pump FORWARD to the injector pump. Past 400 BHP, the stocker lift pump can't supply enough fuel, so you'll need to look into a good aftermarket pump like a Product Engineering.

Using the above guidelines, our customer trucks were kept on the road for hundreds of thousands of miles (versus 10s of thousands of miles) without fuel pump problems.

If you don't want to permanently install a fuel pressure gauge, buy a hand held test unit and test your pressure every oil change. At idle, you should see a minimum of 10 PSI (with the stock lift pump). Anything under this and you are getting insufficient flow.

Rod

 

[lukem86]

I should have followed my own advice and put in a FP gauge.... another toasted injection pump, 18K miles after the last one. My lift pump is fine, this one just died......This time the warranty was out... but with some persistancy I got diamlercrysler to pay for it.... but FP gauge is coming tomorrow...